Saturday, August 28, 2010

Being sorry for the right reason

The other day I came across an old note I made in the front of my Bible: "When you sin, what are you sorry for? Are you sorry because of the consequences, or because you sinned against God and did something wrong? Be sorry for the right reasons!" It got me thinking about being sorry for the right reasons. When we sin we should be sorry unto repentance. We need to be sorry that we sinned against God. The Bible callls this "godly sorrow". Godly sorrow is a good thing, because it leads us to repentance. Too many people are sorry for the wrong reasons. They are only sorry they got caught. They're sorry because they get in trouble and have to pay the price. That is the sorrow of the world which worketh spiritual death. In II Corinthians chapter 7 verses 9 - 10, the apostle Paul says "Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed unto repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." There is a lot to think about in these verses. Have you ever seen someone keep coming to the altar after every service and crying their eyes out? Yet they keep going back out in the world and doing the same things over and over again. A lot of times it is because they have the sorrow of the world. They do feel sorry - but not for the right reasons. They feel sorry because of the way the sin makes them feel, and they feel sorry because they know they're wrong but they don't want to give it up. It's so important that we are sorry for the right reason! We should all have godly sorrow if we sin. Tomorrow is not promised and God may return for His people at any time. This is all a part of being ready to meet Him if He should come today. We can't live in sin if we're going to make it to heaven - we have to over come sin. And if we really want to over come sin, God will be our help. So next time you feel sorry for doing wrong just ask yourself, "what am I really sorry for?" Be sorry for the right reason.

7 comments:

Carol Connell said...

Love this post, Jen. You are right about repentance. It's not going to the altar, shedding a few tears over something and then going out and committing that sin(s)again. Proverbs 28:13 says, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." True repentance is more than just telling God you're sorry, but you must be willing to forsake sin also. Thanks for this thoughtful post, daughter. Love ya!

Mumsy

Jennifer Connell said...

Good verse! And you are right. Thanks Mommy! :)

Bernard said...

Dude Jen Totally a great post.

Anonymous said...

Hey Jen this is Angel from Pastor Kendricks Church. Well I'm finally writing and I just wanted to say that this is a really great post. What you were saying is so true. I'm glad you write these things you make me think.Anyways great job! Hope to see you at Youth Alive!

Jennifer Connell said...

Bernard - Thank you! I amazed you actually posted on your blog! lol Nice to get a comment from you!

Angel - Yay! You remembered to stop by! :) Thank you so much! I wish I could be at Youth Alive this year but unfortunately I will not be able to make it. Sniff sniff...lol I will probably see you at West Coast though! Thanks again!!

Anonymous said...

Bunnie! I love love love reading your blog it always makes me think! haha and everything you say is so true...and like what we were talking about yesterday we do have to be ready because anything can happen! It's not enough to be sorry you have to prove that you're sorry and I guess that shows when you forsake the sin. Very good post :)

Jennifer Connell said...

Awww Bunnie! lol Thank you! And yes you are so right! It's more than just saying sorry, we have to forsake sin to prove that we really are sorry. Love ya!